Chapter 10: Regicide

Scarlet tumbled to the side, dodging a hastily-aimed claw strike. Retaliation came swiftly and her tail slammed into her attacker's jaw, sending him sprawling, dazed. Her two other attackers circled her warily, trying to surround her. But she wasn't giving them the chance.

She ran right into one of them, barging into him with her shoulder. He quickly leapt to one side and Scarlet went right past him. His friend tried to claw at her from behind but, with a beat of her wings, she propelled herself into the air and out of reach. She whipped around and dove down onto the dragon, knocking the wind out of him. She followed up by delivering a sharp smack to the side of the dragon's skull, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Her last attacker wasted no time and pounced on her with the grace and power of a hunting cat. He forced her down to the leaf-strewn ground, pinning her claws and snapping at her face with his jaws. Scarlet braced her hind leg against his midsection and with a powerful heave, kicked him off of her. As the dragon tried to scramble back to his feet, she struck him across the temple, knocking him senseless.

Panting, she paused for a moment to catch her breath. She couldn't keep this up forever. They just seemed to keep coming. So far, including the most recent three, she'd been attacked by eight dragonets from the other team. How in three moons did they keep finding her? Was she really that bad at being stealthy?

Today, instead of their standard training routine, the SkyWing dragonets were in one of the Sky Kingdom's densest forests, taking part in a 'war game' exercise called Regicide. Designed to simulate an actual battle, it involved two teams each with their own 'Queen'. The objective of the game was to defeat the opposing team's Queen.

And so, because she was the Crown Princess, when the dragonets had split into two teams her team had unanimously elected her as their Queen much to her disappointment. Queens were unlikely to see any action as they were instead expected to hide and try to remain undetected for the duration of the game. But Scarlet had no intention of remaining idle.

Instead, as the sounds of fighting erupted all throughout the forest, she had decided to sneak off on her own and actively hunt down the opposing team's Queen herself. It was such a radical idea that it would be the last thing they'd expect, she reasoned. But so far, it didn't seem to be working judging by the number of dragonets she'd run into so far.

Either they were having some unexpectedly good luck or she was phenomenally bad at being sneaky. Maybe she should find a hiding spot and lay low for the rest of the game. That way, she wouldn't endanger her team's chances of winning. She knew it was selfish of her but she didn't like the idea all the same. She threw her head back in exasperation. And that was when she saw it.

Circling in the skies high above her like some kind of scavenger bird was none other than her faithful bodyguard, Roc. It would've taken a miracle for anyone to have missed the massive dragon. Scarlet realized that Roc must've unintentionally led her pursuers straight to her.

Frantically, she waved to Roc not risking flying up to talk to him in case somebody spotted her. Roc was by her side in an instant.

"Trouble, Your Highness?" Roc asked, his voice like a low rumble of thunder.

"Something like that, Roc," she said. "You're not going to like to hear this but I need to ask you to fly to the other end of the forest and pretend I'm there instead."

Roc looked alarmed. "Your Highness, why would you want me to do that?"

"You're attracting the entire enemy team," Scarlet told him. "But if you patrol a different area, you might throw them off my trail."

Roc shook his head. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. But I'm afraid your safety is of a higher priority to me than your victory in this exercise. Besides, isn't such trickery just a little low for you?"

"I'm just trying to think out of the box, Roc," she said, disappointed.

"How about this," Roc suggested. "I'll continue to follow you but I'll do so on foot. That way they won't be able to find you as easily."

"Kind of hard to miss a dragon like you," Scarlet remarked. "No offence."

"None taken, Your Highness," Roc said. "I try to be as prominent as possible to deter would-be assassins. However, I can be stealthy if and when I want to be."

"We'll see," Scarlet said just a little dubiously.

"Indeed, Your Highness. Lead on."

Scarlet moved with speed through the forest. She was mildly surprised to see that Roc indeed lived up to his assertion. The bodyguard seemed to disappear in the undergrowth and though she did still catch sight of his bulk now and then, she suspected he was doing it deliberately to remind her that he was there if she needed him.

The plan was working. Eight minutes passed without a single dragon finding her. The forest was quiet now. The sounds of fighting had died down, no doubt as many of the combatants were taken out of commission by injuries sustained in the earlier skirmishes.

Then, Scarlet spotted her quarry. A small, orange dragonet, Dove, was nestled in a tree, her wings tucked in to minimise her outline and her form obscured by mud and foliage. On any other dragon it might've worked but on a SkyWing the colour contrast was just too obvious.

Scarlet crept up on Dove who was scanning the forest frantically from her perch. Scarlet positioned herself so she was right behind the tree. Then she made her approach.

Careful to step around the brittle twigs and fallen branches that littered the forest floor, she made no noise as she closed in on her prey. Then, she pounced and knocked the dragon out cold with a quick blow to the head. The SkyWing went limp instantly and Scarlet had to catch her to keep her from falling from the tree.

Poor Dove, Scarlet thought. She'd been made the other team's Queen because she was the smallest of them all and her teammates believed she couldn't contribute much to the fight. But they were wrong. Scarlet knew that whatever she lacked in stature, Dove made up for it in spirit. Even now she could've gotten back at her team by not bothering with the exercise and letting Scarlet's team find her. Instead she had done her best to camouflage herself and hide so that the dragons who had forsaken her could win.

"I'm so sorry, Dove," Scarlet whispered, not caring that the unconscious SkyWing couldn't hear her. Inside, her emotions were in turmoil. Did victory in a game really mean so much to her that she attacked this defenceless dragonet?

It might be a game but it's preparation for real-life. In a war, it'll be her or me. Victory at any cost, she thought, trying to convince herself that it'd been the right thing to do. But still she was conflicted. Sighing, she shoved the thoughts and doubts to one side, deciding to deal with them later.

She hoisted Dove's small frame over her own shoulders and half-carried her, heading for the predetermined rendezvous point where she could meet the others. Just then, a rustle in the bushes startled her. She tried to look closer but couldn't see anything through the dense undergrowth.

"Who's there?" Scarlet demanded, slightly spooked. "Roc? Is that you?"

But there was no reply.

A chill ran down her spine. Where was Roc? Usually, he'd be right at her side the moment she called for him. This wasn't like him at all.

Scarlet lay Dove down gently and crept closer towards the bushes. Her entire body was tense, ready for anything. She flexed her claws and stared harder into the undergrowth.

Suddenly, a claw came down on her shoulder, causing her to jump and scream in alarm. She wheeled around to come face to face with none other than Kestrel.

Kestrel was laughing hard. "Wow, Scarlet," she joked. "I think you went at least two octaves up there."

"Kestrel!" Scarlet shrieked, not knowing whether to be angry or relieved. "That's not funny! I really thought I heard someone up ahead!"

Kestrel frowned. "Up ahead? That can't be right. I was creeping behind you the whole time."

"But if you were behind me, then who could've been making those noises?"

Suddenly, there was another rustle in the bushes and both dragonets froze.

"Falcon? Garnet?" Scarlet called out. "Please tell me that's you guys."

But it wasn't. Instead, a black dragon lunged out of the bushes, claws extended at Scarlet. This was no dragonet. It was a fully grown adult NightWing!

Scarlet and Kestrel both screamed and leapt back in stark terror as the dark shape arced towards them. But then Roc was there and he swatted the black dragon out of the air as if it weighed no more than a scavenger.

The black dragon scrambled to its feet but Roc was already bearing down on it, raining sledgehammer-like blows down on the NightWing. It tried to distance itself from Roc but to no avail, the bodyguard was giving it no room to maneuver. Finally, with a cry of anguish, the black dragon bit down hard on something in its mouth and stiffened. The NightWing fell back, dead and cold as a log.

"Poison," Roc spat after looking the would-be assassin over. "The coward realized the fight was lost and poisoned himself to escape capture."

Now that Scarlet got a better look at him, she realized it wasn't a NightWing at all! It was a SkyWing clad in midnight-black cloths and robes to obscure its fiery-red scales.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Roc asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Scarlet said. "Just spooked that's all."

"I am relieved. I had feared I had been too late. By the looks of things, somebody's ordered your assassination," Roc said gravely.

"Wait, we don't know that," Scarlet said, not wanting to believe it. "This guy could just be one maddragon working on his own. How do we know anyone else is involved?"

But what Roc said next confirmed her fears. "I wish that were the case," he said. "But I am afraid not." He walked over to a nearby clearing and yanked out the bodies of two more black-clad SkyWings.

Scarlet realized why Roc hadn't answered her earlier. He had been dealing with these other two assassins! The reality of the situation sunk in. Somebody wanted her dead. And these dragons had been the ones who'd been tasked with the deed. Fear began to set in.

She had come so close to dying. Had Roc not been there, it might have actually worked. It was a chilling thought. Who could she trust? What had she done that somebody would want her dead?

"Why?" Scarlet asked, feeling hollow. "Why would someone do this?"

Kestrel put a reassuring claw on her shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of that later. Right now, we need to get you back to the palace where you'll be safe behind sturdy walls and guarded gates."

Scarlet nodded, still shellshocked by the close brush with death. A game of Regicide had almost led to an actual regicide.

Author's Note:

Hey guys! What is going on? I am officially back and will be updating regularly from now on! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know I especially enjoyed the double meanings of the title and I hope you liked that too!

This marks the beginning of where the story begins to get a little darker. Here, Scarlet experiences the reality of the assassinations that plague the politics of the Sky Kingdom, something that has no doubt left her scarred and will likely shape the dragon she'll become in future. Also, I touched briefly on the concept of Scarlet's morality after she defeated Dove with relative ease. I intend for this to show that Scarlet is not totally without a conscience. She is more pragmatic than heartless. Whether this holds true later on is something that remains to be seen.

So tell me how you found the chapter! Who do you think sent the assassins? I will admit I attempted to add in some cheap scares too so tell me whether it was hair-raising enough! Thanks for all the support so far and see you soon with the next chapter!

Jayfeatheris Awesome-I'm glad to know that people out there understand XDXD

Charizard9000-We all have our personal opinions but perhaps next time could you refrain from posting spoilers? It's highly inconsiderate as some people haven't exactly read Escaping Peril yet, you know? Oh and your English could use some work. There's no need for had in your sentence.

winterandperil-interesting ship! And glad to hear that!:)

MoonwatcherSecretkeeper-Hey, glad to be of help:D

MCZ-Thanks:D Will be making a special dedication to you soon;)

The Pyrrhian Emperor-Thank you for the compliment!